If your target tenant is a young, edgy, cool professional or student – it's only right that you have a brand to match, right?

Hive member, Emma Stubbings has taken the Cambridge co-living market to a whole new level recently, with the rebrand of her business Ikon Property.

With bold brush-stroke patterns, a contrasting colour palette, and playful illustrations – Emma has managed to create a really impactful identity for both her business and her properties. Perfectly aligning the experience of her HMOs through the digital and physical spaces.

Now that the Ikon branding and website is live, we're excited to see how Emma begins to integrate all of the individual design elements into her properties by way of wall murals, door vinyls, textiles, and more!
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To celebrate the launch of her updated brand and website, we reached out to Emma with a few questions about the branding process (with design agency Studio Kanda), and how she knew it was time for a fresh new look for her business.

1. Why was it important to you to rebrand your business, Ikon Property?

Ikon Property was set up over 10 years ago, and since then the business has changed dramatically. We mainly focus on students and professionals, and 80% of our business is house-shares in large cities.

Marketing and brand has become so important in the last few years, and especially to our target market who really value brand identity. Our old branding felt too corporate, and not something our customers would relate to.

We also wanted to make sure the brand was visible in all areas of the business, our properties, marketing, website etc. We have a strong emphasis on customer experience and brand is a key part of this.

2. You worked with BEESPACE + Studio Kanda to find the right direction for your brand. How did you find the process, and what things did you focus on during the discovery stage?

The process included many discussions, mood boarding etc. It was great as they helped me to really think about my customers, my values, the vision for the business, and how that could be translated into the brand. I wanted – a brand that would really stand out and that my customers will love and identify with. 

They helped me think about about colour palette, typography, imagery, brand voice, and how the brand would appear in the properties, assets etc.

3. You didn't rebrand your existing logo, why was that?

I liked my existing logo and didn’t want to change the name of the business, as that’s what our tenants/customers know. I did however want to modernise it and make it more in-keeping with the new branding, which I think we have successfully done.

4. Studio Kanda provided you with x3 different brand directions, how did you choose between them?

I knew instinctively which option looked and felt like the brand we were trying to create. Studio Kanda did a great job of preparing x3 options. In the end we blended a couple of the options to create the final product. They did fantastically well at translating what was in my head into great brand ideas, that we then tweaked to create the finished product.

5. What did you want your brand to achieve, and does it meet those expectations?

I wanted the new brand to be exciting, fun, relatable, have a strong identity, and to stand out. Studio Kanda have created something I’m really excited about and I can’t wait to bring it to life in our houses and online.

6. Has your new rebrand already impacted the interior design of your projects?

We've not completed a project yet since rebranding, however it will be rolled out in our latest commercial-to-resi conversion, so watch this space! 

7. People often overlook the importance of creating (and updating) their website in-line with a rebrand. Why was it important to you?

Studio Kanda have created an amazing website for us to showcase our renovation projects. We wanted a strong online presence so that our investors and coaching clients could find information easily, but also keep-up-to-date with the business too. The website really captures the brand well and links to our social media so we can constantly update it.

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A huge thank you to Emma Stubbings for sharing her branding experience with us – we hope it's given you an interesting insight into the process! You can keep up-to-date with all Ikon Property news over on their instagram, to see when those branded interiors drop.

If you think it's time to take your brand to the next level, don't hesitate to join The Hive Members Club now and start working on the interactive Branding & Design Programme, or reach out to Studio Kanda for more information on their services.